Violin piano



1. L. WARNER.

VIOLIN PIANO- APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, 1920.

1,409,322. Patented Mar. 14,1922.

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VIOLIN PIANO. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2641-920.

1 ,40 9,322, I Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET Z- J. L. WARNER.

vl'oLm PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26. 1920.

1,409,322, Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

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PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES IRWARNER, F GIRAIRD, KANSAS.

VIOLIN PIANO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

Application filed March 26, 1920. Serial No. 369,046.

1 0 all whom it may, concern:

Be it known that LJAMEs L. WVARNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Girard, in the county of Crawford and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Violin Piano, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to violin pianos and is designed more especially as an im provement upon the structure shown for example in Patent No. 1,265,14c7 issued to me on May 7, 1918, and in Patent No. 1,309,00el, issued to me on July 8, 1919.

One oi the objects of the invention is to simplify the mechanism of the apparatus so that it will not readily get out of order.

A further object is to provide mechanism whereby the instrument can he played by hand or by a pneumatic means it being possible to produce a delicate shading of the tones from fortissimo to pianissimo.

A still further object is to provide simple means for producing a tremolo or vibratory ctlect at 'will' and for sounding harmonics.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope of what is claimed,

changes in the precise embodiment of the invention shown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.-

In said drawings- Figure 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of a portion of a piano showing the general arrangement of the parts constituting the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view partly in section and partly in elevation showing the upper and lower belts employed for operating the bowing disks.

Figure 3 is a face View of the lapping portions of said operating belts.

Figure fl is a plan view'showin'g the relative positions of certain of the bowing disks,'buffers and their operating belts.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the power transmitting wheels.

Figure 6 is a detail of the mechanism employed for producing harmonic tones.

Figure 7 is a view showing the tiltable rail in section and shifted out of the position shown in Figure 1 to raise the levers connected thereto.

Figure 8 is a section through one of the bowing elements.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the sounding board of the instrument, there being arranged at opposite sides of this board string plates 2 and 3 properly spaced from the sounding board. Mounted on the string plate 2 are the strings 1 adapted to be sounded by the hammers 5 which are operated by any suitable mechanism from the key board, one of the keys being shown at 6. The hammer operating mechanism has been indicated generally at 7 and includes a wippen S, a damper lever 9, a damper 10, etc. A pneumatic, indicated at 10, is provided for each wippen and is to be operated in the same manner as the pneumatic of an ordinary player piano. It has not been deemed necessary to show this mechanism in detail. The parts heretofore described, with the exception of the sound board interposed between two string plates, can be found in any ordinary player piano. The present invention consists of the addition of strings to be sounded for producing the tones of a violin, there being improved mechanism ,for sounding said strings, said mechanism being operated either from the key board or by the pneumatic of the playermechanism, mechanism for damping the strings of the violin mechanism by the operation of the damper of the hammer mechanism, and means for engaging the strings to shorten the vibratory portions thereof therebyfto produce harmonic tones.

The invention also resides in the addition of means for setting up a tremolo. or vibratory effect simulating that of an ordinary violin.

The instrument is provided, at a point above the wippens, with a support 11 on which a rail 12 is tiltably mounted, this rail being provided with an arm 13 connccted, by a rod 1 1, to a crank arm 15 formed at the back end of a rod 16. Said rod is mounted to slide and rotate within bearings 17 provided therefor below the key board and a knob 18 is preferably ar ranged at the front end of the rod where it can be conveniently reached by the pen formen A brake disk 19 is fixedly mounted on one of the bearings 17 and another brake disk 20 is fixedly mounted on the rod 16. A spring 21 which is attached to the rod and to the piano structures serves to draw the rod 16 longitudinally so as to hold the two brake members normally in contact, thereby to prevent accidental rotation of. the rod 16. It will be obvious that, by pulling forwardly on the knob18 the two brake members 19 and 20 may be disengaged whereupon the rod can be rotated to swing arm 15 and cause the rail 12 to be tilted in either direction desired. When the rail has been brought to the position wanted the knob 18 can be released and the spring 21 will press the brake members 19 and 20 together so as to hold the parts in the position to which they have been adjusted. Another arm 22 is extended from the rail 12 and is connected by a spring 23 to a stationary rail 24, this spring serving to hold the rail 12 normally in a predetermined position.

Pivotally mounted on suitable connecting members 25 on the rail 12 are outstanding levers 26 the lower" end of each lever being connected'to one end of the wippen 8 by an arcuate wire 27. The upper end of each lever has a screw 28 mounted therein and provided with a contact button 29. Each button is designed to bear a ainst the upturned end 30 of a rod 31, sai upturned end being connected to the lower end of a leaf spring 32 extending downwardly from a rail 33 and serving normally to hold the rod 31 pressed against the button 29. The back end of each rod is offset as indicated at 34, the successive rods bein ofi'set upwardly and downwardly respectively. Each of these rods 34 has a smallerrod 35 adjustably connected thereto by a set screw 36 orthe like, as shown, there being a leaf sprin 37 at the back end of each rod 35 to which 1s attached a yoke 38. Each of the rods 35 passes through .an opening in the sounding board 1, one of these openings being indicated at 39.

Thus the yoke 38 is supported bet-ween strings 40 which are mounted on the violin string plates 3 at the back of the sounding board. Each yoke 38 carries a spindle 41 on which is secured a bowing device 42 consisting of a strip of material disposed at an acute angle to the axis of rotation of the spindle 41 and wound spirally about the spindle. By thus disposing the bowing element in a spiral, the edge thereof wears evenly upon all portions of the wire or string 40 opposite the bowing device and the wear is not confined to any separate points as where the bowing edges are formed by separate superposed disks and mounted for rotation in parallel planes.

' As before stated the bowing devices extend between the violin strings 40 and are adapted to contact therewith, thereby to cause the strings to vibrate toward and from the sounding board so as to produce the maximum volume of sound, it having been found by experiment that where a flat sounding board is used it is necessary, in order to produce the best tone, to vibrate along lines as nearly perpendicular to the sounding board as possible.

Arranged back of the middleportion of the sounding board is a tubular shaft 43 extending upwardly from a friction disk 44. To the upper end of this tubular shaft is secured a pulley 45 on which is mounted an endless belt 46 which extends back of the shorter strings on the back of the soundin board and around a suitably supported pulley 47 located back of one end of the sounding board. Another shaft 48 is mounted for rotation within the shaft 43 and'has a pulley 49 on the upper portion thereof which engages the upper belt 50 extending back of the longer violin strin s 40 and mounted on a suitable support. uide pulleys 51 are arranged back of the other end portion of the sounding board. Those bowing devices carried by the upwardly ofl'set rods 34 are adapted to be pressed against and to be operated by the upper belt 50 while the bowing devices carried by the downwardly offset rods 34 are adapted to move against and to be operated by the lower belt 46.

Arranged back of the sounding board is a stationary rail 52 having upwardly extending flexible supports 53 at desired points and on the upper ends of which is secured a movable rail 54. This rail has brackets 55 supporting upper and lower bars 56 to which are secured yokes 57 and each yoke carries a backing or buffer roller 58, one of these rollers being arranged directly opposite each of the bowing devices so that one flight of the belt will pass between the rollers 58 and their respective bowing devices. This arrangement of parts has been indicated clearly in Fi ures 2 and 4.

in arm 59 is extended upwardly from the movable rail 54 and is connected by av link 60 to one arm of a bell crank lever 61. The other arm of this bell crank lever is connected by a wire 62 to a link 63 connected to a rivet pin 64 on a disk 65. This disk is journaled on an arm 66 mounted to swin upwardly and downwardly and which is adapted to be actuated by a link 67 connected to a bell crank lever 68. This lever can be operated by any suitable mechanism not shown and by means thereof the disk can be moved downwardly into contact with a friction wheel 69 mounted on a shaft 70. On this shaft is also mounted a friction disk 71 engaging the disk 44 and another friction disk 72 engaging a disk 73 which is secured to the shaft 48. Motion is transmitted to the shaft and the disk thereon through a belt 74 engaging a pulley 75 on the shaft, this shaft being driven by a pulley 76 operated by a motor not shown.

- necessary vibration.

It will be obvious that while the bowing devices are being rotated by the belts 46 and 50 the disk can be brought down into C01l tact with the disk 69 so as to be driven there- 'by. This will cause the wire 62 to be moved downwardly and upwardly, thereby oscillating the lever 61 and causing the rail 54 to move back and forth with its flexible support 53. This will cause the rollers 58 to move toward and away from the belt so as to thrust the belt intermittently against the bowing devices with the result that said devices will be driven intermittently, thus to produce a tremolo or vibratory effect.

It is to be understood of course that when the shaft 70 is in operation motion will be transmitted through the disks 71 and 72 to the disks 44 and 73 respectively so that the shafts 43 and 4L8 will be operated and the two "the violin strings 10 and carries depending leaf springs 78 each of which has a damper 79 for engaging one of the strings 40. Each damper is provided wlth a wire 80 extending to but disconnected from the corresponding damper 10 of the hammer mechanism, these connections 80 extending through openings 81 in the sounding board 1.- Thus it will be seen that each time one of the dampers 10 is actuated by the hammer mechanism, the connection 80 will be actuated by the pressure thereagainst ot' a button 80 on the hammer 10, thus forcing the spring 78 of the damper 7 9 to yield as said damper moves against the violin string in the path thereof so as to stop its vibration.

It will be understood 0% course that each time one of the keys 6 is depressed in the usual manner, and as shown in Figure 1, motion will be transmitted through the wippens8 and wire 27 to the lever 26 which will thus be swung upon its fulcrum and caused to press, at its upper end, through the button 29 against the rod 31 in the path thereof. This will force said rod longitudinally against the action-oi: thespring 82 so as to bring the bowing device, which is connected to said rod, against the string in the path thereof and also against the moving belt. Accordingly the bowing device will be rotated bythe belt and at the same time will wipe on the string so as to produce the By turning the rod 16 the levers 26 can be raised or lowered, thus to vary the amount of movement imparted to the rod 31 and correspondingly regulate the volume of sound produced. A tremolo effect can be produced by swinging the arm 15 back and forth rapidly thus to rapidly vary the stroke of each lever 26. The button 29 can, obviously, be completely withdrawn from engagement with the rod 31 so that the violin mechanism will not be operated during the operation of the hammers 5.

For the purpose of producing harmonic tones a bar 82 is slidably mounted adjacent the strings 40 and carries a series of pins 83 each of which has a head 84 adapted to move against one of the strings 40. A spring 85 is connected to one end of this bar and serves to hold the heads 84 normally out of contact with the strings 10. A bell crank lever 86 is connected to the bar and is adapted to be operated by suitable mechanism, not shown. Thus when the bar is shifted against the action of spring 85 the heads 8a will come into contact with the strings so that when they are sounded the sound produced will be at a predetermined interval above the normal tones produced by the strings.

What is claimed is:

1. In a violin piano the combination with a string, of an endless belt, a bowing element carrying a spiral string engaging edge, and means for shifting said element simultaneously against the belt'and string.

2. In a violin piano the combination with a string and a continuously moving belt adjacent thereto, of a rod, a yoke carried thereby, a bowing device mounted for rotation inthe yoke, yielding means for holding the yoke pressed laterally relative to the rod,

yielding means for holding the rod out of contact with the string and belt, a key operated lever for shifting the rod to move the bowing device against the string and belt, and means under the control of the operator for varying the movement of the rod under the action of the lever.

8. In a violin piano the combination with a string and a continuously moving belt adj acent thereto, of a revoluble bowing device, a longitudinally movable supporting device therefor, said device having a resilient laterally flexible portion adjacent the bowing device, spring means supporting said device and holding the bowing device normally retracted out of engagement with the string and belt, a key actuated lever, ad ustable means for transmitting motion therefrom to the supporting device, and means for shifting the lever to vary the movement of the supporting device under the action of the lever.

"I. In a violin piano a string, a continuously moving belt adjacent thereto, a bowing device, a longitudinally movable support therefor having a resilient portion for holding the supported device normally in position with the bowing device out of contact with the belt and string, a key actuated lever for shifting the supporting device to position the bowing device against the string and belt, a tiltablerail' constituting a support for the lever, and means under the control of the opeiator for tilting said rail to raise or lower the lever and vary the movement of the supporting device under the action of the lever. j

5. In a violin piano a string, a continuously moving belt, a bowing element, key operated .means for shifting the bowing element into contact with the string and belt. a roller contacting with the belt at a point opposite the bowing element, and means for automatically reciprocating the roller to intermittently vary the pressure of the belt upon the bowing element. 7

6. In a violin piano the combination with a string, a bowing element, a movable belt,

and key operated means for shifting the bowing element against the string and belt to rotate said element and sound the string,

of: a roller engaging the belt directly opposite the bowing element, an oscillating support for said roller, and power opera-ted means "for oscillating said support to vary the pressure of the belt upon the bowing element.

7. The combination with endless belts extending in opposite directions respectively and having their adjoining portions in superposed relation, of a drive shaft, means operated thereby for driving the belts at different speeds respectively, bowing elements, key operated means for shifting some of said elements against one of the belts and keyoperated means for shifting the remaining elements against the other belt, thereby to rotate the elements at different speeds respectively.

8. In a violin piano the combination with strings, endless belts adjacent thereto and extending in opposite directions respectively, said belts having their adjoining portions in superposed relation and power operated means for driving the belts at different speeds respectively, of separate bowingelements, key-operated means for shifting some of said elements against one of the belts, and key operated means for shifting the other elements against the other belt, thereby to drive the bowing elements at different speeds respectively, belt engaging rollers in line with the respective bowing elements, and power operated means for re a longitudinally movable supporting rod, a

bowing element carried thereby, yielding means for holding the rod normally in a predetermined position, a key operated lever for shifting the rod to move the bowing element into contact with the string and belt,

a tiltable iail constituting a support for the lever, and means for tilting said rail to vary the movement of the rod by the lever, said means including a slidable and revoluble rod, an arm thereon, means for transmitting motion from thearm to the rail, a stationar brake member, a brake member upon the rod, and ielding means connected to the rod for ho ding the brake members normally in contact.

10. In a violin piano a bowing element comprising a spindle and a. strip ofmaterial wound spirally about the spindle to present a spiral bowing edge.

11. In a violin piano a bowing element including a spirally wound strip of mate rial each convolution of which is inclined relative to the axis of rotation. I

12. In a violin piano the combination with a string and a drive belt adjacent thereto, of a rod, a yoke at one end of the rod, a bowing element carriel by the yoke, a spring supporting one end ot the rod and constituting means for holding the bowing element normally out of contact with the belt and string, and key operated means for shifting the rod against the action of the spring to bring the bowing element into contact with the string and the belt.

13. In a violin piano the combination witha string, a belt adjacent thereto, a yieldingly supported rod, and a bowing element carried by the rod, of a tiltable rail, a lever fulcrumed thereon, adjustable means carried by the lever for engagement with the rod, a spring for holding the rail and lover normally in a predetermined position, a key-operated hannner-action including a wippen, and a connection between said wippen and the lever.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixeijl my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES L. WARNER.

\Vitnesses \VAL'rnR 1x. Por'rnn, HENRY Vnrrz. 

